First, find a beautiful piece of fish

  • By Sue Ade
  • Tuesday, July 12, 2016 5:00pm
  • LifeFood

To make Baked Summer Grouper with Tomato-Basil Cream Sauce you’ve got to first find a top rate piece of fish. With grouper being pricey, you’ll also want to be sure you’re getting what you’re paying for, so when you make your selection, do so from a source that you can trust. (Did you know that the three top mislabeled species of fish are grouper, salmon and red snapper? Even the experts are often fooled.) The grouper pictured here came from the White Shrimp Company Seafood Market on St. Helena Island (843-838-7525) and was as good a piece of grouper as I’ve enjoyed anywhere, at home or in a restaurant.

Unless we catch it ourselves, it’s always a good idea to give fish the sniff test before we take it home, especially when purchasing fillets, when you can’t inspect the fish’s eyes, which should be clear and bright, or the gills, where pink or red and not dried are virtuous things. Plainly said, the fish should not smell “fishy,” but like the ocean. (The ocean does not smell like ammonia – a sign your fish is not fresh and has begun to decompose. And yes, this is as undesirable as it sounds.) Assuming you’re shopping with a reputable fishmonger and the fish smells like a day at the beach, you’ll also want your fish fillets to be of good color (no yellowing or browning) and moist looking, as well.

When you go to all the trouble of selecting as near perfect seafood as you possibly can, be certain whatever other ingredients you are planning to use in your recipe is of equal quality. But with fish dishes, of course, it all starts with the fish. So first, find a beautiful piece of fish.

 

 

More in Life

This Korean rice porridge, called dak juk, is easy to digest but hearty and nutritious, perfect for when you’re learning how to eat. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A comforting meal for new beginnings

Rice porridge is a common first solid meal for many, many babies around the world

file
Minister’s Message: The sound of God’s voice

In all my desperate prayers, I sometimes forget that God has spoken definitively already

Rivers and Ice by Susan Pope. (Promotional photo)
KPC Showcase to feature discussion with Alaska author Susan Pope

Pope will discuss her memoir “Rivers and Ice: A Woman’s Journey Toward Family and Forgiveness”

Promotional photo courtesy Sony Pictures
Carrie Coon, Paul Rudd, Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace and Celeste O’Connor appear in “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.”
On the Screen: New ‘Ghostbusters’ struggles to balance original ideas and nostalgia

“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” picks up right where “Afterlife” left off, and it also succumbs to a lot of the same problems

document from ancestry.com
William Raymond “W.R.” Benson’s draft-registration card from 1942 reveals that he was 52 years old, living in Seward and self-employed. His wife, Mable, is listed as a person who will always know his address.
Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 2

W.R. Benson was a mover and a shaker throughout his life, but particularly so in Alaska

Terri Zopf-Schoessler and Donna Shirnberg rehearse “The Odd Couple: The Female Version” at the Kenai Performers’ Theater near Soldotna, Alaska, on Tuesday, March 19, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Iconic, classic comedy’

Kenai Performers debuts “The Odd Couple: The Female Version”

Photo provided by Sara Hondel
Sara Hondel stands with a leprechaun during Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Soldotna on Sunday. Green, leprechauns and Nugget the Moose poured down the streets for the 34th annual parade hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce. Under cloudy skies — but fortunately no precipitation — a procession of viridescent celebrants representing businesses and organizations brought festivities to an array of attendees lining Redoubt Avenue.
Go green or go home

Soldotna turns out for St. Patrick’s Day parade

Eggplants, garlic, lemon juice and tahini make up this recipe for baba ghanouj. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
When making a good example is hard to swallow

Preparing baba ghanouj despite a dislike of eggplant

William Raymond “W.R.” Benson (front row, far right) poses along with the rest of the Sigma Nu fraternity at Albion College in Michigan in about 1908. Despite a lifetime spent in the public eye, Benson was apparently seldom captured on film. This image is one of the few photos of him known to exist. (photo from the 1908 Albion College yearbook via ancestry.com)
Hometown Booster: The W.R. Benson Story — Part 1

W.R. Benson was a man almost constantly in motion

Most Read